Method, system and apparatus for providing calling name identification

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method, system and apparatus for providing customized calling identification. A method for providing customized calling identification comprises receiving a request for initiating an out-going call from a communication client, the communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier. The method further comprises, based on the communication client identifier, determining an auxiliary identifier associated with the communication client. The method further comprises augmenting the request for initiating an outgoing call with the auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of telecommunications in general and, more specifically, to a method, system and apparatus for providing calling name identification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Caller Line Identification or, simply, CLID announcement is a telephony feature that provides a called party with information about a calling party associated with a given incoming call to enable the called party to decide how to dispose of the given incoming call (such as, for example, answer the given incoming call, ignore the given incoming call, etc). Generally speaking, two flavours of the CLID announcement features are known in the art. Within a first CLID announcement feature, the CLID comprises a telephone number (or another identifier) associated with the called party. Within a second CLID announcement feature, commonly referred to as Enhanced CLID, the Enhanced CLID comprises the telephone number, as well as a billing (or subscribing) name. An indication of the billing name can be transmitted as part of a signalling message or can be obtained from a Line Information Data Base (LIDB) based on the telephone number which is transmitted as part of the signalling message. By ascertaining the telephone number and/or the name associated with the calling party, the called party may decide how she or he would like to handle the given incoming call.

However, the ability of the Enhanced CLID announcement solutions to provide additional information (i.e. the name of the calling party) increases the risk that misleading information is transmitted to the called party. For example, a particular call may be originated from an originating communication device which can be used by more than one person. If the person originating the particular call is not the same as the person subscribing to telephony service at the originating communication device, the called party may be misinformed as to who the true originator of the particular call is.

Therefore, the prior art solutions appear to lack means for identifying the name of the actual caller instead of the name of the subscriber. Such a function would be of benefit to both the calling party and the called party, as the called party will be in a better position to ascertain the true identity of the calling party and the calling party will more likely to be able to complete the call.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method. The method comprises receiving a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, the communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier. The method further comprises, based on the communication client identifier, determining an auxiliary identifier associated with the communication client. The method further comprises augmenting the request for initiating an outgoing call with the auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.

According to a second broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for receiving a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, the communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier. The apparatus further comprises means for determining an auxiliary identifier associated with the communication client based on the communication client identifier. The apparatus further comprises means for augmenting the request for initiating an outgoing call with the auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.

According to a third broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system. The system comprises a network element operable to receive a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, the communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier. The network element is further operable, based on the communication client identifier, to determine an auxiliary identifier associated with the communication client and to augment the request for initiating an outgoing call with the auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.

According to yet another broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when executed by a computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus:

-   -   to receive a request for initiating an outgoing call from a         communication client, the communication client being registered         in association with a network address and being associated with         a communication client identifier;     -   based on the communication client identifier, to determine an         auxiliary identifier associated with the communication client;     -   to augment the request for initiating an outgoing call with the         auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.

These and other aspects and features of the present invention will now become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram representing various components of a non-limiting embodiment of an infrastructure for providing customized calling name identification;

FIG. 2 is a diagram representing a non-limiting embodiment of a client mapping maintained by a network element of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a signal flow diagram depicting a non-limiting embodiment of a flow of signals exchanged between a communication client and the network element of FIG. 1 during a registration process;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing a non-limiting embodiment of a method for providing customized calling name identification within the infrastructure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram depicting a flow of signals between various components of the infrastructure of FIG. 1 exchanged during execution of the method of FIG. 4 within a first non-limiting scenario;

FIG. 6 is a signal flow diagram depicting a flow of signals between various components of the infrastructure of FIG. 1 exchanged during execution of the method of FIG. 4 within a second non-limiting scenario;

FIG. 7 is a diagram representing another non-limiting embodiment of the client mapping maintained by the network element of FIG. 1.

It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustration of certain embodiments of the invention and are an aid for understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows various components of an infrastructure for providing customized calling name identification. The infrastructure comprises a customer premises 102 associated with a user 101 a. The customer premises 102 may be further associated with a user 101 b residing thereat. For the purposes of the example to be presented herein below, it is to be assumed that the user 101 a is a subscriber to a telephony service at the customer premises 102. Accordingly, the user 101 a represents a “registered subscriber” associated with the customer premises 102. The customer premises 102 can be coupled to a data network 104 via an access connection 103. The customer premises 102 may comprise, but is not limited to, a house, a unit in a multi-dwelling unit (MDU), an office, etc. The data network 104 may comprise any data network suitable for satisfying communication needs of user(s) at the customer premises 102 (such as, for example, the users 101 a, 101 b). These communication needs may include exchanging data, entertainment, telephony and the like. In a specific non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the data network 104 can comprise the Internet. However, in alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the data network 104 may comprise another type of a public data network, a private data network, portions of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a wireless data network and the like.

In an example non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the access connection 103 can be a copper twisted pair, over which higher-layer protocols allow for the exchange of packets (ex. an xDSL-based access link). In an alternative non-limiting embodiment, the access connection 103 may comprise an Ethernet link, a fiber optic link (e.g., Fiber-to-the-Premise, Fiber-to-the-Curb, etc.), a wireless link (e.g., EV-DO, Wi-Max, Wi-Fi, CDMA, TDMA, GSM, UMTS, and the like), coaxial cable link, etc., or a combination thereof. Generally speaking, the access connection 103 may comprise any type of wireless, wired or optical connection that allows exchange of data between the customer premises 102 and the data network 104.

It should be noted that even though its depiction in FIG. 1 is greatly simplified, the data network 104 may comprise a number of network elements for facilitating exchange of data. For example, in the above-mentioned scenario where the access connection 103 is the xDSL-based link, the data network 104 may comprise a number of Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), Outside Plant Interface DSLAMs (OPI-DSLAMs), edge routers, etc. In the above-mentioned scenario where the access connection 103 is the cable link, the data network 104 may comprise a number of cable headends, distribution hubs, etc. As a non-limiting example of these network elements, a DSLAM 130 has been depicted in FIG. 1. Persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate various configurations possible for the network elements that make up the data network 104 and, as such, these network elements need not be described here in great detail.

The customer premises 102 may comprise an access device 106 that facilitates exchange of data with the data network 104 via the access connection 103. In some embodiments of the present invention, the access device 106 may comprise a modem. Examples of modems that can be used include, but are not limited to, a cable modem, an xDSL modem and the like. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, which are particularly applicable where the access connection 103 comprises Fiber-to-the-premise, the access device 106 may comprise an Optical Network Terminal (ONT). Naturally, the type of the access device 106 will depend on the type of the access connection 103 employed.

The customer premises 102 may comprise a number of communication clients coupled to the access device 106. Only three communication clients are depicted: a communication client 108 a, a communication client 108 b and a communication client 108 c. Generally speaking, communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof. In a specific non-limiting example to be presented herein below, the communication client 108 a may comprise a VoIP phone, the communication client 108 b may comprise a second VoIP phone and the communication client 108 c may comprise a computing apparatus executing a soft client for handling VoIP calls. For the purposes of various examples to be presented herein below, the following non-limiting assumptions will be made:

-   -   the communication client 108 a comprises the VoIP phone located         in a bedroom associated with the user 101 b and, as such,         outgoing calls originated by the communication client 108 a are         likely to be originated by the user 101 b;     -   the communication client 108 b comprises the VoIP phone located         in a family room of the customer premises 102 and, as such,         outgoing calls originated by the communication client 108 b can         be originated by either the user 101 a or the user 101 b (or any         other users potentially residing at the customer premises 102);     -   the communication client 108 c comprises the computing apparatus         executing a soft client located in a home office of the customer         premises 102, the home office associated with the user 101 a who         runs her business from the customer premises 102 and, as such,         outgoing calls originated by the communication client 108 c are         likely to be originated by the user 101 a.

It should be understood that the customer premises 102 may comprise a number of additional communication clients that may include, but are not limited to, other VoIP phones, a wireless VoIP phone (such as, for example, a J2ME wireless phone), a Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) phone equipped with an Analog Terminal Adapter (ATA), other computing apparatuses executing soft clients, a set-top box, a gaming device, a security system and the like. The number of communication clients installed within the customer premises 102 is not limited other than by business considerations of a service provider who manages the access connection 103. Put another way, the customer premises 102 may comprise two or more communication clients similar to the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c.

In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the communication clients located at the customer premises 102 may be connected to a communication network different from the data network 104, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network, a wireless communication network, etc.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c may be coupled directly to the access device 106. However, in the specific non-limiting embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c are coupled to the access device 106 via a local data network 110. In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the local data network 110 may comprise an Ethernet-based network. In another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the local data network 110 may comprise a wireless network (ex. a Wi-Fi based network, a Wi-Max based network, BlueTooth® based network and the like). It should be noted that any other type of local data network 110 or a combination of the example networks can be used. In some of these embodiments, the local data network 110 may comprise a home gateway 110 a that mediates communication between the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c and the access device 106. The home gateway 110 a may comprise a wireless router, a wired router or a combined wireless/wired router.

In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the functionality of the access device 106 and the home gateway 110 a may be embodied in a single device. In other non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the functionality of the access device 106 and/or the home gateway 110 a may be integrated into one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c. In yet further alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a and the local data network 110 can be omitted from the infrastructure of FIG. 1. This is particularly applicable in those non-limiting embodiments where the communication clients 108 a, 108 b or 108 c are coupled to the access device 106 directly and, as such, the local data network 110 and the home gateway 110 a can be omitted. Yet in other alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, some of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c (as well as other communication clients potentially located within the customer premises 102, but omitted from the infrastructure of FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity) may be coupled directly to the access device 106, while others of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c (as well as other communication clients potentially located within the customer premises 102, but omitted from the infrastructure of FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity) may be coupled to the access device 106 via the local data network 110 and the home gateway 110 a.

It should be understood that the infrastructure of FIG. 1 may comprise a number of additional communication clients outside of the customer premises 102, coupled to the data network 104. As a non-limiting example only, the infrastructure of FIG. 1 may comprise a communication client 116 associated with another user (such as, for example, a user 101 c). The communication client 116 can be coupled to the data network 104 via an access connection 103 a. The communication client 116 may comprise one or more of a VoIP phone, a POTS phone equipped with an Analog Terminal Adapter (ATA), a computing apparatus executing a soft client, a set-top box, a gaming device, a security system and the like. The access connection 103 a may be substantially similar to the access connection 103. However, it should be understood that the access connection 103 and the access connection 103 a need not be of the same type in every embodiment of the present invention. For example, in some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the access connection 103 may comprise an xDSL-based link, while the access connection 103 a may comprise a Fiber-to-the-Premise based link. Naturally, a myriad of other non-limiting combinations of how the access connections 103, 103 a can be implemented are possible.

For the purposes of establishing communication sessions and terminating communication sessions between, for example, one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and another communication client (such as, for example, the communication client 116) via the data network 104, the data network 104 may comprise a network element 112. In some embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 can comprise an apparatus sometimes referred to in the industry as a “soft switch” and that comprises circuitry, software and/or control logic for providing various communication features to VoIP clients (such as, for example, the VoIP clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116) coupled to the data network 104. Examples of such communication features include (i) connecting incoming calls to the communication clients (such as, for example, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116); and (ii) handling outgoing calls originated from the communication clients (such as, for example, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116). Other examples of communication features that can be performed by the network element 112 can include but are not limited to call waiting, call forwarding, and so on. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the network element 112 may have other configurations.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 may further comprise circuitry, software and/or control logic for performing at least one of the following functions: synthesizing voice messages, providing audio mixing capabilities, receiving a selection from users of communication clients, receiving and interpreting speech utterances, detecting DTMF tones, determining the current time and the like. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, some or all of these additional functions may be performed by one or more devices (not depicted) connected to and under control of the network element 112. Furthermore, among other functions performed by the network element 112, the network element 112 can maintain an active call table (not depicted) which logs all active communication sessions maintained by all communication clients registered to the network element 112 (such as, for example, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116).

In addition, the network element 112 can comprise suitable circuitry, software and/or control logic for exchanging calls with entities outside the data network 104. This is particularly convenient, when a call is placed by the user of one of the communication clients that the network element 112 serves (i.e. a user 101 a of one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, and 108 c or the user 101 c of the communication client 116) to a telephone number that is reachable only via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), which is depicted at 140 in FIG. 1 or via or a wireless communication network. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the infrastructure of FIG. 1 may comprise a separate gateway 135 for mediating the communication flow between the data network 104 and the PSTN 140.

A non-limiting example of the network element 112 can be embodied in a MCS 5200 Soft Switch manufactured by Nortel Networks Ltd. of 8200 Dixie Road, Brampton, Ontario L6T 5P6, Canada. However, it should be expressly understood that the network element 112 can have various other configurations.

For the purposes of facilitating exchange of data via the data network 104, the home gateway 110 a may be assigned a network address compatible with an addressing scheme of the data network 104. In some embodiments of the present inventions, the network address can comprise an IPv4 address. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the network address can comprise an IPv6 address. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the network address can comprise any other suitable type of a unique identifier, such as, for example, a media access control (MAC) address, a proprietary identifier and the like.

How the home gateway 110 a is assigned the network address is not particularly limited. For example, in some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a may be assigned a static network address. This static network address may be assigned to the home gateway 110 a before the home gateway 110 a is shipped to the customer premises 102, during an initial registration process or at another suitable time. In another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a may be assigned a dynamic network address. For example, in a non-limiting scenario, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server (not depicted) may be used to assign the dynamic network address (such as, for example, a dynamic IP address) to the home gateway 110 a. In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a can obtain its network address by establishing a PPPoE session with a provisioning server (not depicted). Other alternative implementations are, of course, possible. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, which is particularly applicable in a scenario where the home gateway 110 a is omitted, the access device 106 may be assigned a network address.

Each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c can also be assigned a respective network address for the purposes of receiving and transmitting data via the home gateway 110 a, the access device 106 and the data network 104. Several non-limiting embodiments as to how the network addresses of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c can be assigned are envisioned:

Public Network Addresses

-   -   In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication         clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c can be assigned network addresses         that are routable or, in other words, are visible to the data         network 104 and other devices connected thereto (such as, for         example, the network element 112, the communication client 116).         The routable network addresses are sometimes also referred to as         “global” or “public” network addresses. For example, if the data         network 104 implements an IPv6 address scheme, it is envisioned         that each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c         may be assigned a unique public IP address. In some of these         non-limiting embodiments, there may be no need for the local         data network 110 and/or the home gateway 110 a.

Private Network Addresses

-   -   In other embodiments of the present invention, each of the         communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c can be assigned         what is called a “non-routable”, “local” or “private” network         address. In these non-limiting embodiments, the private network         addresses are used for the purposes of identifying the         communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c within the local         data network 110, while communication outside of the local data         network 110 is implemented by using the aforementioned public         network address assigned to the home gateway 110 a (or, in some         cases, the access device 106). In some non-limiting embodiments         of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a may be         responsible for assigning private network addresses to the         communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c. However, this need         not be the case in every embodiment of the present invention.         For example, the private network addresses can be assigned to         the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c by a dedicated         address server (not depicted) coupled to the local data network         110 or to the data network 104.

In the specific non-limiting example depicted in FIG. 1, each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c can be assigned a private network address by the home gateway 110 a. For the sole purpose of simplifying the description to be presented herein below, it is assumed that both the private and the public network addresses are Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned according to the IPv4 protocol. However, it is expected that one of ordinary skill in the art will easily adapt the teachings to be presented herein below to other addressing schemes.

Accordingly, the home gateway 110 a may be assigned two IP addresses: a first IP address for the purposes of communicating with devices on the data network 104 (i.e. a so-called “network facing interface” IP address) and a second IP address for the purposes of communicating with devices on the local data network 110 (i.e. a so-called “premise facing interface” IP address). For example, the network facing interface IP address may comprise a public IP address “64.230.200.100”. The assignment of this public IP address can be done by the aforementioned DHCP server (not depicted) coupled to the data network 104. The premise facing interface IP address may comprise a private IP address “192.168.1.1”.

The home gateway 110 a can be responsible for assigning private IP addresses to the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c. For example, the communication client 108 a may be assigned a private IP address “192.168.1.100”, the communication client 108 b may be assigned a private IP address “192.168.1.101” and the communication client 108 c may be assigned a private IP address “192.168.1.102”.

As one skilled in the art will appreciate, in the specific embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the private IP addresses assigned to the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c, as well as the private IP address assigned to the premise facing interface of the home gateway 110 a, are only routable within the local data network 110, while the public IP address assigned to the network facing interface of the home gateway 110 a is routable within the data network 104. Accordingly, in order to facilitate exchange of data between the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c and the data network 104, the home gateway 110 a can be operable to implement a Network Address Translation (NAT) operation or, in other words, to translate the private IP addresses assigned to the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c for the purposes of routing data packets to/from the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c using the public IP address assigned to the home gateway 110 a.

NAT operation is known to those of skill in the art and, as such, no detailed description of the process will be presented here. However, for the benefit of the reader a brief overview will be presented. The home gateway 110 a can be operable to receive a packet from one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c (i.e. an outgoing packet). The home gateway 110 a performs a NAT operation whereby a source address of the received outgoing packet (which in this non-limiting example can be the private IP address of one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c that originated the outgoing packet) is substituted with the network facing interface IP address associated with the home gateway 110 a and a port number that uniquely identifies one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c which originated the outgoing packet. The home gateway 110 a can further be operable to compile an internal mapping table 111. The internal mapping table 111 correlates at least (i) an original source address (i.e. the private IP address of one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c that has originated the outgoing packet) to (ii) a port number assigned to the respective one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c. In the specific non-limiting example of FIG. 1, the internal mapping table 111 correlates the private IP address of the communication client 108 a (i.e. 192.168.1.100) to a port 110 a ₁, the private IP address of the communication client 108 b (i.e. 192.168.1.101) to a port 110 a ₂, and the private IP address of the communication client 108 c (i.e. 192.168.1.102) to a port 110 a ₃. Data maintained within the internal mapping table 111 can allow the home gateway 110 a to receive a packet destined for one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c (i.e. an incoming packet addressed using the network facing interface IP address associated with the home gateway 110 a and a port number associated with the one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c to which the incoming packet is destined for) and using the internal mapping table 111, the home gateway 110 a can route the incoming packet to the intended destination (i.e. one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c). The home gateway 110 a, thereby, allows for two-way exchange of packets between one or more of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c with any other device on the data network 104 (such as, for example, the communication client 116). It should be noted that in an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the internal mapping table 111 can be maintained by another device accessible to the home gateway 110 a.

In a similar manner, the communication client 116 may be associated with a network address. As a non-limiting example that is presented in FIG. 1, the communication client 116 can be directly coupled to the data network 104 without the use of a home gateway. This is particularly applicable in those embodiments, where the communication client 116 is embodied in a soft client executed on a computing apparatus, for example. In a non-limiting example, communication client 116 may be associated with an IP address “64.230.200.101”, which may be a public IP address or, in other words, an IP address routable within the data network 104. For the purposes of a non-limiting illustration to be presented herein, it is assumed that the communication client 116 is coupled directly to the access connection 103 a and, as such, exchange of data with the data network 104 can be performed without the need for any port number mapping.

For the purposes of exchanging data and, more specifically, for the purposes of establishing a communication session (such as, for example, a VoIP call) between two or more of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 (as well as potentially other communication clients), a registration process executed at the network element 112 can be implemented. For the sole purpose of simplifying the description to be presented herein below, an example of the communication session being a VoIP call will be used. However, it should be expressly understood that the type of communication sessions or the data exchanged between the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 is not particularly limited and may include a video call, an instant messaging session or a multimedia session, to name just a few possibilities.

Before describing the registration process in detail, a client mapping 200 will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 2. The client mapping 200 can be maintained by the network element 112 of FIG. 1 for the purposes of facilitating establishing of communication sessions between the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c, 116 via the data network 104. The network element can maintain the client mapping 200 in an internal database or in a separate database (not depicted) accessible to and under control of the network element 112.

The mapping 200 may maintain a plurality of records, such as records 200 a, 200 b, 200 c and 200 d. Each of the records 200 a, 200 b, 200 c and 200 d may maintain information about registered communication clients, such as for example, communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116. Each of the records 200 a, 200 b, 200 c and 200 d may maintain a relationship between an identifier 202, an address 204 and a sub-address 206. Each of the records 200 a, 200 b, 200 c, 200 d can further map the identifier 202 to an auxiliary identifier 208.

In a specific non-limiting embodiment, the identifier 202 may comprise an alias or another identifier of a user (such as one of the users 101 a, 101 b) to which a particular communication client is registered. Some non-limiting examples of the identifier 202 include, but are not limited to, a user account, a proprietary identifier, a network address and the like. In the specific non-limiting embodiment to be presented herein below, the identifier 202 comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Universal Resource Identifier (URI) address assigned on a per user account basis or, in other words, all communication clients registered to the same user account are associated with the same identifier 202. Typically, all the communication clients registered to the same user account are said to be associated with the same user, but this need not be so in every embodiment of the present invention. For example, in an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, which is particularly applicable where the customer premises 102 comprises an office and where the subscriber to the communication service (i.e. a company) and the user of the communication client(s) (i.e. an employee) are different, the communication clients can be registered to the same user account associated with the company and may be used by various employees of that company. For the avoidance of doubt, it should be expressly understood that the user account can be associated with the user 101 a, as well as other users at the customer premises 102.

The address 204 may comprise an indication of a public network address associated with an endpoint where the communication client is located (such as, for example, the customer premises 102), such as, for example, an IP address, a proprietary network identifier, etc. The sub-address 206 may contain an identifier that may be used to uniquely identify a particular communication client within its local data network should this be the case (such as, for example, within the local data network 110 of the customer premises 102). For example, in the non-limiting example to be presented herein below, the sub-address 206 may comprise an indication of a port number of the home gateway 110 a within the local data network 110 associated with a particular communication client.

In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the sub-address 206 may comprise another suitable identifier, such as, for example, a private IP address. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the sub-address 206 may comprise a value which represents a value derived on the basis of the port number of the home gateway 110 a. In yet further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the sub-address 206 may comprise an arbitrary value assigned by the home gateway 110 a. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, which are particularly applicable where the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 can be assigned a public network address, the sub-address 206 may comprise a default value or may be omitted. In the specific non-limiting example being presented herein, the communication client 116 may be associated with the public IP address and, as such, the sub-address 206 associated with the communication client 116 may be a default port value.

The data maintained in the identifier 202 is referred to sometimes herein below as a “user account identifier” and the data maintained in the address 204 and sub-address 206 is jointly referred to as a “communication client identifier”. In some examples, as described above, the communication client identifier may only comprise the address 204.

The auxiliary identifier 208 may comprise an indication of an auxiliary name registered in association with the particular communication client. For example, the auxiliary identifier 208 may comprise an indication of a name of a user who is more likely to originate outgoing calls using the particular communication client. This could be a full name (ex. “John Smith”), a portion of the name (ex. “John” or “Mr. Smith”) or an alias of the user (ex. “Happy Face”). Within these embodiments, the indication stored within the auxiliary identifier 208 may be used to more accurately identify who is the originator of the outgoing call originated from the particular communication client. In an alternative implementation of this invention, the auxiliary identifier 208 may comprise an indication of a location of the particular communication client (ex. “Living Room”, “Kitchen”, “XYZ Accounting Department”, “XYZ Human Resources Department”, etc.). Within these embodiments, the indication stored within the auxiliary identifier 208 may be used to more accurately identify the location of the particular communication client that is originating the outgoing call. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, knowing the location of the communication client originating the outgoing call may be useful in many circumstances, such as, for example in the case of an emergency for more precisely directing emergency response teams. Alternatively, knowing the location of the communication client originating the outgoing call may allow the called party to ascertain which part of the company the call is originated from, ex. Accounting, Human Resources, etc.

In another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary identifier 208 may comprise privacy-related information, such as, for example “anonymous”, “unknown”, “name unavailable”, etc. In yet further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary identifier 208 may comprise an alternative telephone number associated with the user who is more likely to use the particular communication client to initiate outgoing calls, such as, for example, an alternative call back number, a telephone number associated with a wireless communication device, an e-mail address, etc or a combination thereof. Yet in further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary identifier 208 may comprise a title of the person originating the call, a greeting, etc.

Data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208 may be used in several ways. In some embodiments of the present invention, the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208 may be used to substitute a portion or entire CLID information associated with an outgoing call. In other embodiments of the present invention, the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208 may be transmitted in addition to the CLID information associated with an outgoing call. Other possible scenarios will be illustrated using examples to be presented herein below.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 can be provided, for example, when the user 101 a subscribes to the telephony services at the customer premises 102. Within this scenario, the user 101 a may provide an indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 for each of the registered communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c. Naturally, the indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 for one or more of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c may be changed at a later time either by the user 101 a, the user 101 b or other users potentially residing within the customer premises 102.

In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the provisioning of the indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 can be performed or changed at any other suitable time after the original service subscription. For example, when subscribing to the telephony service at the customer premises 102, the user 101 a may only install the communication client 108 b. At the same time, the user 101 a may provide an indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 associated with the communication client 108 b. At a certain point of time thereafter, the user 101 a may connect another communication client (such as, for example, the communication client 108 a). The user 101 a may also provision an indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 associated with the communication client 108 b. At the same time or at another time thereafter, the user 101 a may connect another communication client (such as, for example, the communication client 108 c). The user 101 a may also provision an indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 associated with the communication client 108 c.

How the user 101 a provides the indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 is not particularly limited and some approaches may include, but are not limited to, calling a customer service representative, interacting with an interactive voice response system, accessing a provisioning web portal or web site, sending an electronic message, sending a short text message, sending an SMS message, sending an Instant Message and the like.

In the specific example being presented herein, the record 200 a may be associated with the communication client 108 a. As such, the identifier 202 of the record 200 a may comprise an alias of the user 101 a to whom the communication client 108 a is registered or, in other words, who is the subscriber to communication services at the customer premises 102, such as, a SIP URI 4162223333@serviceprovider.com. It should be expressly understood that any other suitable form of the identifier 202 of the record 200 a can be used, such as a numerical value, an alpha-numerical value, etc. The address 204 of the record 200 a may comprise the public IP address associated with the home gateway 110 a, which, in the specific non-limiting example being presented herein, is the public IP address “64.230.200.100”. The sub-address 206 of the record 200 a may comprise an indication of the port number of the home gateway 110 a which is associated via the aforementioned internal mapping table 111 within the home gateway 110 a with the communication client 108 a or, in this non-limiting example, it may comprise “110 a ₁”. The auxiliary identifier 208 of the record 200 a may comprise “Bob Smith” indicative, for example, of the name of the user 108 b who is more likely to use the communication client 108 a to initiate outgoing calls.

In a similar manner, the record 200 b can be associated with the communication client 108 b. Since in the non-limiting example being presented herein, the communication client 108 b is associated with the same customer premises 102 as the communication client 108 a, then for the purposes of the non-limiting example to be presented herein below, it is assumed that the communication client 108 b is to be registered with the same user 101 a. Accordingly, the identifier 202 of the record 200 b can comprise an alias of the user 101 a who is the subscriber to communication services at the customer premises 102, such as, a SIP URI 4162223333@serviceprovider.com. It should be expressly understood that any other suitable form of the identifier 202 of the record 200 b can be used, such as a numerical value, an alpha-numerical value, etc. The address 204 of the record 200 b may comprise the public IP address associated with the home gateway 110 a, which, in the specific non-limiting example being presented herein, is the public IP address “64.230.200.100”. The sub-address 206 of the record 200 b may comprise an indication of the port number of the home gateway 110 a which is associated via the aforementioned internal mapping table 111 within the home gateway 110 a with the communication client 108 b or, in this non-limiting example, it may comprise “110 a ₂”. The auxiliary identifier 208 of the record 200 b may comprise “default” indicative, for example, that the communication client 108 b is a shared device in the sense of more than one user (such as users 101 a, 101 b) can use the communication client 108 b to initiate outgoing calls and, as such, the default registered subscriber name should be used.

The record 200 c may be associated with the communication client 108 c. Since in the non-limiting example being presented herein, the communication client 108 c may be associated with the same user 101 a as the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, then for the purposes of the non-limiting example to be presented herein below, it is assumed that the communication client 108 c is to be registered with the same user 101 a as the communication clients 108 a, 108 b. Accordingly, the identifier 202 of the record 200 c can comprise an alias of the user 101 a who is the subscriber to communication services at the customer premises 102, such as, a SIP URI 4162223333@serviceprovider.com. It should be expressly understood that any other suitable form of the identifier 202 of the record 200 c can be used, such as a numerical value, an alpha-numerical value, etc. The address 204 of the record 200 c may comprise the public IP address associated with the home gateway 110 a, which, in the specific non-limiting example being presented herein, is the public IP address “64.230.200.100”. The sub-address 206 of the record 200 c may comprise an indication of the port number of the home gateway 110 a which is associated via the aforementioned internal mapping table 111 within the home gateway 110 a with the communication client 108 c or, in this non-limiting example, it may comprise “110 a ₃”. The auxiliary identifier 208 of the record 200 c may comprise “Medical Office of Barbara Smith, MD” indicative, for example, of the name of the user 101 a who is more likely to use the communication client 108 c to initiate outgoing calls.

The record 200 d may be associated with the communication client 116. The identifier 202 of the record 200 d may comprise an alias of the user 101 c to whom the communication client 116 is registered or, in other words, who is the subscriber to communication services at a location where the communication client 116 is located, such as, a SIP URI 4165556666@serviceprovider.com. It should be expressly understood that any other suitable form of the identifier 202 can be used, such as a numerical value, an alpha-numerical value, etc. The address 204 of the record 200 d may comprise the public IP address associated with the communication client 116, which, in the specific non-limiting example being presented herein, is the public IP address “64.230.200.101”. The sub-address 206 of the record 200 d may comprise an indication of the default port used for exchanging data between the communication client 116 and the data network 104 or, in this non-limiting example, it may comprise the default port number “5060”. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, the sub-address 206 can be left blank. In further embodiments of the present invention, when the exchanging of data is implemented using the default port, the sub-address 206 of the record 200 d can be omitted altogether. The auxiliary identifier 208 of the record 200 d may comprise “Reception” indicative of a location where the communication client 116 is located.

The client mapping 200 may maintain a number of additional records, jointly depicted at 200 n. These additional records 200 n may be associated with other communication clients of the infrastructure of FIG. 1, which have been omitted for the sake of simplicity.

How the client mapping 200 is populated is not particularly limited. In a specific non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the client mapping 200 may be populated during a registration process of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 with the network element 112. Prior to describing the registration process, certain non-limiting assumptions will be made for the sole purpose of illustrating and providing an example for the description to be presented below.

Firstly, it is assumed that the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 and the network element 112 implement a communication protocol for exchanging data therebetween. In a specific non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the communication protocol may comprise Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the communication protocol may comprise Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) or it may comprise ITU-T′s H.323 signalling protocol. It should be expressly understood that any suitable communication protocol may be used, whether standards-based or proprietary. Some examples of the proprietary protocols that can be used include, but are not limited to, Unified Stimulus (UNISTIM) protocol, Mitel Networks Telephony Application Inter (MiTAI) protocol, Skiny, etc.

Secondly, it is assumed that each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 is aware of the location of the network element 112 or, in other words, a network address associated with the network element 112. In some embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 may be associated with a static network address, such as, but not limited to, a static IP address “64.230.100.100”. In these embodiments of the present invention, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 may be pre-programmed with the static IP address of the network element 112. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the network element 112 may be associated with a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), such as, for example, “http://www.soft-switch.serviceprovider.com”. In these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 may be pre-programmed with the URL of the network element 112. In yet further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 may be associated with a dynamic network address, such as, for example, a dynamic IP address. In these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 may discover the dynamic IP address of the network element 112 via an appropriate address discovery procedure, such as, for example, a Domain Name Service (DNS) look up. In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a or the access device 106 can be aware of the location of the network element 112 rather than the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c. It should be noted that in alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c may not be aware of the location of the network element 112. They may, instead, be aware of the location of another network element (such as, for example, a Session Border Controller, a proxy server, etc.).

Having made these non-limiting assumptions, a registration process by virtue of which the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 can register with the network element 112 will now be described in greater detail. With reference to FIG. 3, an example of how the communication client 108 a can register with the network element 112 will now be described. In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication client 108 a may perform the registration process, when the communication client 108 a is powered on for the first time. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the communication client 108 a may perform the registration process after being unplugged and moved to a new location. In yet further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication client 108 a can perform the registration process on-demand, for example, when triggered by the user 101 a, by an application executed on the communication client 108 a or by an application executed on another device in the customer premises 102 or connected to the data network 104. For example, each of the records 200 a-200 n may be assigned an “expiry” indicator. The expiry indicator can be set by the network element 112, it can be requested by the communication client submitting a registration request or it can comprise a default value (ex. 3600 seconds or the like). When the “expiry” indicator expires or shortly thereafter, the network element 112 may cause the respective communication client associated with the expired record 200 a-200 n to re-execute the registration process.

It should be noted that in alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, a service provider who is responsible for managing the network element 112 can pre-provision the client mapping 200. Within these embodiments of the present invention, the registration process can be omitted. This scenario is particularly applicable in those non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, where the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c, 116 are assigned a static network address.

It should be noted that in some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 may be aware of its respective identifier 202. How the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 may become aware of their respective identifiers 202 is not particularly limited. In some embodiments of the present invention, an indication of the identifier 202 may be programmed into the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 116 before they are dispatched to the respective users 101 a, 101 b. However, in alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the indication of the identifier 202 can be inputted by the respective user 101 a, 101 b during the registration process. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the indication of the identifier 202 can be determined by the communication client 108 a by interacting with the home gateway 110 a or with the access device 106. For the purposes of the non-limiting example to be presented herein below, it is assumed that the user 101 a has inputted the indication of the identifier 202 (i.e. 4162223333@serviceprovider.com) into the communication client 108 a.

The communication client 108 a generates a registration message 310. In some embodiments of the present invention, the registration message 310 comprises a packet comprising a SIP Registration message. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment, the registration message 310 comprises the SIP Registration message. The registration message 310 can comprise an indication of an identifier of the communication client 108 a, such as the SIP URI 4162223333@serviceprovider.com (i.e. an “identifier”). The registration message 310 can further comprise an indication of a network address of the communication client 108 a (ex. a so-called “source address”), which in this non-limiting example can comprise the private IP address of the communication client 108 a (i.e. the private IP address 192.168.1.100) and an indication of a source port, which can be a TCP/UDP port value (ex. “5060”). The registration message 310 can further comprise an indication of the network address of the network element 112 (ex. the public IP address 64.230.100.100), i.e. a so-called “destination address”. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the destination address may be omitted from the registration message 310. Within these embodiments of the present invention, the destination address can be populated, for example, by the home gateway 110 a as part of compiling a registration message 312 to be described below or by another entity. In further alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the identifier of the communication client 108 a can be omitted from the registration message 310. Within these embodiments of the present invention, the identifier of the communication client 108 a can be populated, for example, by the home gateway 110 a as part of compiling a registration message 312 to be described below or by another entity. The communication client 108 a then sends the registration message 310 towards the home gateway 110 a via the local data network 110, using for example, SIP protocol.

The home gateway 110 a receives the registration message 310 and compiles the registration message 312 by augmenting data received as part of the registration message 310. To that end, the home gateway 110 a creates the registration message 312 by replacing the value in the received source address by its own public IP address, which in this non-limiting example can comprise the public IP address of the home gateway 110 a (i.e. the public IP address “64.230.200.100”). The home gateway 110 a further substitutes the value of the received source port with the source port number of the home gateway 110 a associated with the communication client 108 a (ex. “110 a ₁”). The home gateway 110 a then sends the registration message 312 towards the network element 112 via the access device 106 and the data network 104.

When the network element 112 receives the registration message 312, it examines its content. It retrieves the identifier of the communication client 108 a from the registration message 312 and generates the identifier 202 of the record 200 a. It then retrieves the source address and populates the address 204. Using the data received as part of the source port, the network element 112 generates the sub-address 206. Accordingly, the network element 112 is operable to generate the aforementioned record 200 a with the information received as part of the registration message 312. If the network element 112 determines that the record 200 a associated with the communication client 108 a already exists (i.e. an old record 200 a), the network element 112 can delete the old record 200 a and populate a new record 200 a with the identifier 202, the address 204 and the sub-address 206 received as part of the registration message 312. Alternatively, the network element 112 can modify a portion of the old record 200 a to derive the new record 200 a.

In substantially the same manner, the communication clients 108 b and 108 c can generate and transmit registration messages similar to the registration messages 310 to enable the network element 112 to populate records 200 b, 200 c respectively. The communication client 116 can generate a registration message similar to the registration message 312 with a default port number as the sub-address 206 to enable the network element 112 to populate the record 200 d.

It should be noted that in alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, where the home gateway 110 a is not SIP-aware, the home gateway 110 a may perform NAT operation on an IP packet encapsulating the SIP registration request. Within these embodiments, the home gateway 110 a amends information maintained within the IP packet encapsulating the SIP registration request and leaves the SIP registration request intact.

Several non-limiting embodiments as to how the auxiliary identifier 208 can be populated are contemplated. In a first non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the network element 112 can generate the auxiliary identifier 208 during execution of the registration process. For example, in some embodiments of the present invention, each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c can be aware of its respective auxiliary identifier and they can transmit an indication of their respective auxiliary identifier as part of the above-described registration process. Within these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the user 101 a may provision indications of auxiliary identifiers for a respective one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c by using the respective one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c. Within some of these embodiments, the user 101 a would need to trigger the respective one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c to enter into auxiliary identifier provisioning mode, for example, by clicking a soft key or a pre-determined sequence of digits. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a can be aware of the respective auxiliary identifiers of each of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c. Within these embodiments of the present invention, the home gateway 110 a can provide an indication of the auxiliary identifier when generating the respective registration message 312.

In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the user 101 a may provision indications of auxiliary identifiers at any time after the registration process, for example, by interacting with a web site or a web portal, an IVR system, a service representative, etc. Within these embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 may populate the auxiliary identifier 208 when the user 101 a (or the user 101 b) provides an initial indication or makes changes to the indication of the auxiliary identifier 208.

The network element 112 may maintain or have access to a number of additional databases. For example, the network element 112 may comprise or have access to a customer account database, which among other data, may correlate a given SIP URI with a registered subscriber name. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the customer account database may be integrated with the client mapping 200. Within these embodiments of the present invention, records of the client mapping 200 may further store a registered subscriber name.

It should be understood that several components of the infrastructure of FIG. 1 can be omitted, configured differently or substituted by alternative components. A non-limiting example of one possible alternative of the infrastructure of FIG. 1 will now be described. In the specific non-limiting embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c are all registered to the same user 101 a (i.e. all of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c are associated with the same identifier 202) and are all located at the customer premises 102. However, in an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c may be registered to the same user 101 a (i.e. be associated with the same identifier 202), but may not be necessarily all located at the customer premises 102. For example, the communication client 108 c may comprise a wireless VoIP phone and, as such, may not be physically located at the customer premises 102 all the time. As another example, the communication client 108 b may be a VoIP phone located at a cottage (not depicted), but nevertheless may still be registered to the same user account associated with the user 101 a. Accordingly, it should be understood that, broadly speaking, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b and 108 c are associated with the user 101 a not by virtue of being in the same location (ex. the customer premises 102), but rather being registered to a single user account (ex. the user account associated with the user 101 a). It should be further understood that within these non-limiting alternative embodiments, the various communication clients associated with the same user account will all have the same “user account information” (or another identifier) stored within identifier 202 of the client mapping 200, but may have different network addresses stored within the address 204 and sub-address 206.

Within yet further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, some of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c can be coupled to a first communication network (such as, for example, the data network 104) and others of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c can be coupled to a second communication network (such as for example, another network substantially similar to the data network 104, a wireless communication network, etc.). Within these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, irrespective of whether the given one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c is coupled to the first or the second communication networks, the given one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c logs in with the same user account and, as such, is associated with the same user account.

Given the infrastructure of FIG. 1, it is possible to execute a method for providing customized calling name identification. With reference to FIG. 4, a non-limiting embodiment of a method for providing customized calling name identification will be described. An example non-limiting embodiment of the method will be described in the context of the following non-limiting assumptions:

-   -   the auxiliary identifiers 208 of the records 200 a, 200 b, 200 c         have been provisioned as has been described above with reference         to FIG. 2.     -   the network element 112 and the communication clients 108 a, 108         b, 108 c, 116 implement SIP protocol and, as such, an outgoing         call originated, for example, by one of the communication         clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c is identified at least in part by         the SIP URI associated with the communication clients 108 a, 108         b, 108 c (i.e. 4162223333@serviceprovider.com).

The following two scenarios will be used for illustration purposes:

-   Scenario A Within this scenario it is assumed that the user 101 b is     using the communication client 108 b to establish the outgoing call     destined to the communication client 116. -   Scenario B Within this scenario it is assumed that the user 101 b is     using the communication client 108 a to establish the outgoing call     destined to the communication client 116.

The description of the method of FIG. 4 will be illustrated with signal flow diagrams of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 depicts a signal flow exchanged between components of the infrastructure of FIG. 1 within Scenario A. FIG. 6 depicts a signal flow exchanged between components of the infrastructure of FIG. 1 within Scenario B.

Step 410

The method begins at step 410, where a request for initiating of an outgoing call is received by the network element 112. Step 410 can be executed, for example, in response to a user of a communication client (such as, for example, one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c) dialling a destination number using the communication client (such as, for example, one of the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c).

-   Scenario A Within this scenario, the user 101 b inputs a telephone     number associated with a desired destination party into the     communication client 108 b (ex. a number representative of the SIP     URI associated with the communication client 116, such as,     4165556666@serviceprovider.com or a portion thereof, such as, for     example, 4165556666, in which case an indication of the domain can     be transmitted separately, added by the home gateway 110 a or by the     network element 112). Naturally, the user 101 b can select the     telephone number associated with the desired destination party from     an address book, by selecting a link, by pushing a click-to-call     button and the like. In response to the user inputting the telephone     number associated with the desired destination party and,     potentially, pressing a “SEND” soft key, the communication client     108 b generates a SIP INVITE message 510 of FIG. 5. It should be     expressly understood that in alternative embodiments of the present     invention, another type of signalling message can be generated (ex.     Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), ITU-T′s H.323 signalling     protocol, UNISTIM, MiTAI, Skiny, etc.).     -   The SIP INVITE message 510 comprises inter alia a <from> field         510 a, which comprises an indication of the SIP URI of the         communication client 108 b (i.e.         4162223333@serviceprovider.com).     -   In some embodiments of the present invention, the network         element 112 determines a registered subscriber name associated         with the SIP URI received within the <from> field 510 a, which         in this example is the name of the user 101 a, who is the         subscriber to the telephony services at the customer premises         102 (i.e. <Barbara Smith>). For example, the network element 112         can access the aforementioned customer account database (or         another database) to ascertain that the registered subscriber         name associated with the SIP URI received within the <from>         field 510 a comprises <Barbara Smith>. In an alternative         non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the network         element 112 may determine the registered subscriber name by         performing a look up into a LIDB (not depicted), such as, for         example, by transmitting a TCAP query via a gateway and the         like. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present         invention, the <from> field 510 a (or another field within the         SIP INVITE 510) may further comprise an indication of the         registered subscriber name or a portion thereof.     -   The SIP INVITE message 510 (or a packet encapsulating the SIP         INVITE message 510) further comprises an indication of the         communication client that has originated the SIP INVITE message         510, for example in the form of the above-mentioned public IP         address of the home gateway 110 a and the port number with the         communication client 108 b (not separately depicted in FIG. 5). -   Scenario B Within this scenario, the user 101 b inputs a telephone     number associated with a desired destination party into the     communication client 108 a (ex. a number representative of the SIP     URI associated with the communication client 116, such as,     4165556666@serviceprovider.com or a portion thereof, such as, for     example, 4165556666, in which case an indication of the domain can     be transmitted separately, added by the home gateway 110 a or by the     network element 112). In response to the user inputting the     telephone number associated with the desired destination party and,     potentially, pressing a “SEND” soft key, the communication client     108 a generates a SIP INVITE message 610 of FIG. 6. It should be     expressly understood that in alternative embodiments of the present     invention, another type of signalling message can be generated (ex.     Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), ITU-T′s H.323 signalling     protocol, UNISTIM, MiTAI, Skiny, etc.).     -   The SIP INVITE message 610 comprises inter alia a <from> field         610 a, which comprises an indication of the SIP URI of the         communication client 108 a (i.e.         4162223333@serviceprovider.com).     -   In some embodiments of the present invention, the network         element 112 determines a registered subscriber name associated         with the SIP URI within the <from> field 610 a, which in this         example is the name of the user 101 a, who is the subscriber to         the telephony services at the customer premises 102 (i.e.         <Barbara Smith>). For example, the network element 112 can         access the aforementioned customer account database (or another         database) to ascertain that the registered subscriber name         associated with the SIP URI received within the <from> field 610         a comprises <Barbara Smith>. In an alternative non-limiting         embodiment of the present invention, the network element 112 may         determine the registered subscriber name by performing a look up         into a LIDB (not depicted), such as, for example, by         transmitting a TCAP query via a gateway and the like. In an         alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention,         the <from> field 610 a (or another field within the SIP INVITE         610) may further comprise an indication of the registered         subscriber name or a portion thereof.     -   The SIP INVITE message 610 (or a packet encapsulating the SIP         INVITE message 610) further comprises an indication of the         communication client that has originated the SIP INVITE message         610, for example in the form of the above-mentioned public IP         address of the home gateway 110 a and the port number associated         with the communication client 108 a (not separately depicted in         FIG. 6).

Step 420

Next, at step 420, the network element 112 determines if a customized calling name has been provisioned in association with the communication client that initiated the outgoing call at step 410.

It will be recalled that as part of the signalling message received as part of step 410 (ex. the aforementioned SIP INVITE message 510 or SIP INVITE message 610), the network element 112 has become aware of the public IP address of the home gateway 110 a and the port number associated with the communication client that initiated the outgoing call at step 410. The network element 112 accesses the client mapping 200 and performs a look up of the address 204 and the sub-address 206 that match the values received as part of step 410.

-   Scenario A The network element 112 determines that record 200 b is     associated with the communication client that has initiated the     outgoing call at step 410 (i.e. communication client 108 b). The     network element 112 examines the auxiliary identifier 208 of the     record 200 b to determine if it has been provisioned with any value. -   Scenario B The network element 112 determines that record 200 a is     associated with the communication client that has initiated the     outgoing call at step 410 (i.e. communication client 108 a). The     network element 112 examines the auxiliary identifier 208 of the     record 200 a to determine if it has been provisioned with any value.

Step 430

If the network element 112 determines that the auxiliary identifier 208 has not been provisioned or if it comprises <default> (i.e. “Condition 1” branch of step 420), the network element 112 executes step 430. At step 430, the network element provides standard call processing. For example, the network element 112 can transmit a SIP INVITE message to the destination party (i.e. the communication client 116), the SIP INVITE message transmitted to the destination party comprising an indication of the registered subscriber name.

-   Scenario A Within this scenario, the network element 112 determines     that the auxiliary identifier 208 the record 200 b comprises     <default>. The network element 112, accordingly, provides standard     call processing.     -   In those embodiments of the present invention, where the <from>         field 510 a does not contain an indication of the registered         subscriber name and the network element 112 determines the         registered subscriber name based on the SIP URI received as part         of the <from> field 510 a, the network element 112 generates a         SIP INVITE message 512, which contains substantially similar         information as the SIP INVITE message 510, but further includes         the so-determined indication of the registered subscriber name.         The network element 112 then transmits the SIP INVITE message         512 towards the communication client 116. The SIP INVITE message         512, therefore, can be said to include an augmented calling         party name identifier.     -   In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present         invention, where the <from> field 510 a comprises the indication         of the registered subscriber name, the network elements 112         transmits the SIP INVITE message 512, which contains data         substantially similar to the data received as part of the SIP         INVITE message 510.

Step 440

If, on the other hand, the network element 112 determines that the auxiliary identifier 208 has been provisioned (i.e. “Condition 2” branch of step 420), the network element 112 executes step 440. At step 440, the network element 112 augments a portion of the <from> field of the SIP INVITE message received as part of step 410 with the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208.

In those embodiments of the present invention, where the <from> field 510 a does not contain an indication of the registered subscriber name and the network element 112 determines the registered subscriber name based on the SIP URI received as part of the <from> field 510 a, the network element 112 can perform one of the following actions:

-   -   in a first non-limiting example, the network element 112 can         substitute the so-determined registered subscriber name with the         data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208;     -   in a second non-limiting example, the network element 112 can         substitute a portion of the so-determined registered subscriber         name with the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier         208;     -   in a third non-limiting example, the network element 112 can         keep the so-determined registered subscriber name and augment it         with the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208.

In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, if the network element 112 determines that the customized calling name identification has been provisioned, it may omit performing the look up of the registered subscriber name altogether.

In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, where the <from> field 510 a comprises the indication of the registered subscriber name, the network element 112 can substitute a portion of the <from> field of the SIP INVITE message received as part of step 410 with the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208. In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 may insert the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208 in addition to the data maintained within the <from> field of the SIP INVITE message received as part of step 410. In yet further non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the network element 112 can substitute entirety of the <from> field of the signalling message received as part of step 410 with the data maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208.

-   Scenario B In the embodiment being presented herein, the network     element 112 may substitute the so-determined registered subscriber     name (i.e. <Barbara Smith>) with the data maintained within the     auxiliary identifier 208 (i.e. <Bob Smith>).     -   In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present         invention, which would be particularly applicable where the         <from> field 610 a comprises the indication of the registered         subscriber name, the network element 112 first determines a         portion of the <from> field 610 a that contains the registered         subscriber name. In some embodiments, this can be performed         based on specific syntaxes used to populate the <from> field 610         a in the first place. For example, the portion of the <from>         field 610 a representing the registered subscriber name can be         delimited using specific syntaxes, such as, for example, single         inverted commas, double quotes or any other suitable set of         strings. In another non-limiting embodiment of the present         invention, the portion representative of the registered         subscriber name can be maintained in a separate field from the         <from> field 610 a (for example, in a separate <registered         subscriber name> field). Within these non-limiting embodiments         of the present invention, the <from> field 610 a would only         maintain an indication of SIP URI. The network element 112 then         deletes the indication of the registered subscriber name and         substitutes it with the information maintained within the         auxiliary identifier 208. Within this specific non-limiting         example, the network element 112 removes <Barbara Smith> and         replaced it with <Bob Smith>.     -   The network element 112 then sends a SIP INVITE message 612         towards the communication client 116. The SIP INVITE message 612         is substantially similar to the SIP INVITE message 610, but for         the substitution of the registered subscriber name for the         information maintained within the auxiliary identifier 208. The         SIP INVITE message 612, therefore, can be said to include an         augmented calling party name identifier.     -   In some embodiments of the present invention, which are         particularly applicable where the outgoing call is destined to a         communication device coupled to a communication network other         than the data network 104, the network element 112 can transmit         the SIP INVITE message 610 to a media gateway (not depicted)         responsible for mediating communications between the data         network 104 and the other communication network.     -   As the result of the method described above, within this         scenario, the destination party at the communication client 116         will be able to ascertain the true identity of the person who         originated the call (i.e. Bob Smith) and not the person who is         the registered subscriber (i.e. not Barbara Smith).

In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, where the auxiliary identifier 208 comprises privacy-related information, the method described above would allow the user (such as one of the users 101 a, 101 b, for example) to prevent the called party from ascertaining the name of the calling party, if the need be. In yet further embodiments, which are particularly applicable where the auxiliary identifier 208 comprises an alternative telephone number, the user (such as one of the users 101 a, 101 b, for example) can provide an alternative number in addition to the telephone number of the originating communication client or instead of the telephone number of the originating communication client. It should be expressly understood that these non-limiting benefits need not be realized in every embodiment of the present invention.

An Optional Enhancement

In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the user 101 a or the user 101 b may choose to provision more than one indication of the auxiliary identifier 208 for a given communication client. For example, the users 101 a, 101 b may choose to provide three indications of the auxiliary identifier 208 in association with the communication client 108 b. These three indications of the auxiliary identifier 208 may, for example, comprise “Barbara Smith”, “Bob Smith” and “Medical Office of Barbara Smith, MD” representing names of two users who can potentially originate outgoing calls using the communication client 108 b, as well as the location of the communication client 108 b. For the purposes of the example to be presented herein below, it is assumed that the user 101 a is desirous of initiating an outgoing call using the communication client 108 b. It is further assumed that the auxiliary identifier 208 of the record 200 b has been provisioned as follows:

-   -   <Barbara Smith>     -   <Bob Smith>     -   <Medical Office of Barbara Smith, MD>

Within these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, execution of the step 440 described above can be augmented as follows. The network element 112 may inform the user 101 a that three customized calling name identifications have been provisioned. For example, the network element 112 can present an audio message, a text message or a combined audio/text message announcing to the user 101 a that three customized calling name identifications have been provisioned. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the audio, text or combination message may be presented to the user 101 a via another suitable means (such as, for example, via a cell phone, via an instant messaging application, a pop-up window in a computing apparatus and the like). For example, the network element 112 can transmit an SMS message to a cell phone and to receive a response SMS message from the cell phone indicative of which customized calling name identifications are to be used.

The network element 112 may further solicit an indication from the user 101 a which one of the customized calling name identifications the user 101 a is desirous of using for the specific outgoing call. The network element 112 then augments the signalling information with one of the provisioned customized calling name indications as per indication received from the user 101 a.

Even though the foregoing description has focused primarily on non-limiting examples of the customer premises 102 comprising a residence, one should appreciate that teachings presented herein are not limited to the residential environment. As a non-limiting illustration consider the following scenario. Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which depicts a non-limiting embodiment of a client mapping 200′. The client mapping 200′ is substantially similar to the client mapping 200 and, as such, like elements are depicted with like numerals.

Within the non-limiting scenario to be presented with reference to FIG. 7, it is assumed that the customer premises 102 comprises an office associated with a company “XYZ Limited”. XYZ Limited subscribes to the communication services at the customer premises 102 and, as such, the registered subscriber name associated with the SIP URI 4162223333@serviceprovider.com (and, accordingly, the communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c) comprises “XYZ Limited”. The communication clients 108 a, 108 b, 108 c are located within the customer premises 102. The communication client 108 a can be associated with an auxiliary identifier <Reception>, the communication client 108 b can be associated with an auxiliary identifier <Customer Services><1.800.111.2222> and the auxiliary identifier associated with the communication client 108 c can comprise <Accounting>. The communication client 116 can be located in another office associated, for example, with a company “ABC Limited”. ABC Limited subscribes to the communication services at a location where the communication client 116 is located. As such, the registered subscriber name associated with the SIP URI 4165556666@serviceprovider.com (and, accordingly, the communication client 116) can comprise “ABC Limited”. The communication client 116 can be associated with an auxiliary identifier <Anonymous>. For the purposes of the discussion to be presented herein below, it is assumed that records 200 a′, 200 b′, 200 c′, 200 d′ of the client mapping 200′ have been provisioned accordingly.

Given that the client mapping 200′ has been populated as depicted in FIG. 7 and during execution of various embodiments of the methods described above, the following call processing is envisioned, when a given communication client originates an outgoing call:

-   Communication client 108 a (i) in a first non-limiting scenario of     the present invention, the network element 112 can augment the     received SIP INVITE message (or another type of signalling message)     by inserting an indication of the auxiliary identifier to generate     an augmented calling party name identifier, which in this example     can comprise “4162223333. XYZ Limited. Reception”;     -   (ii) in a second non-limiting scenario, the network element 112         can augment the received SIP INVITE message (or another type of         signalling message) by substituting a portion of the received         SIP INVITE message, for example, by substituting the originating         party telephone number, which would result in an augmented         calling party name identifier as follows: “XYZ Limited.         Reception”.     -   (iii) in a third non-limiting scenario, the network element 112         can augment the received signalling message by substituting the         entirety of the <from> field of the signalling message to         generate an augmented calling party name identifier, which would         comprise “Reception”.     -   Naturally, numerous further alternatives are possible. -   Communication client 108 b The network element 112 can augment the     received SIP INVITE message (or another type of signalling message)     by substituting a portion of the received SIP INVITE message (or     another type of signalling message), for example, by     -   (i) substituting the originating party telephone number, which         would result in an augmented calling party name identifier as         follows: “1.800.111.2222. XYZ Limited. Customer services”;     -   (ii) substituting either just the originating party telephone         number or just the calling party name, resulting respectively in         the augmented calling party identifier as follows         “1.800.111.2222. XYZ Limited” and “4162223333. Customer         services”.     -   Naturally, numerous further alternatives are possible. -   Communication client 108 c (i) in a first non-limiting scenario of     the present invention, the network element 112 can augment the     received SIP INVITE message (or another type of signalling message)     by inserting an indication of the auxiliary identifier (or a portion     thereof) to generate an augmented calling party name identifier,     which in this example can comprise, for example, “4162223333. XYZ     Limited. Accounting. Robert Smith”, “4162223333. XYZ Limited.     Accounting” or “4162223333. XYZ Limited. Robert Smith”.     -   (ii) in a second non-limiting scenario, the network element 112         can augment the received SIP INVITE message (or another type of         signalling message) by substituting a portion of the received         SIP INVITE message (or another type of signalling message), for         example, by substituting the originating party telephone number,         which would result in an augmented calling party name         identifier, for example, as follows: “XYZ Limited. Accounting.         Robert Smith”, “XYZ Limited. Accounting” or “XYZ Limited. Robert         Smith”.     -   (iii) in a third non-limiting scenario, the network element 112         can augment the received SIP INVITE message (or another type of         signalling message) by substituting the entirety of the <from>         field of the received signalling message to generate an         augmented calling party name identifier, which would comprise         “Accounting. Robert Smith”. -   Communication client 116 Within some embodiments of the present     invention, the network element 112 can augment the received SIP     INVITE message (or another type of signalling message). For example,     the network element 112 can augment a portion or entirety of the     <from> field of the received signalling message to generate an     augmented calling party name identifier, which in this case would     comprise “Anonymous”, effectively preventing the called party from     ascertaining the identity of the caller who uses the communication     client 115.

It should be expressly understood that teachings of this invention are not limited to voice-over-packet or VoIP communication sessions and one skilled in the art can easily adapt the teachings presented herein to other protocols for handling media-over-a-network communications.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain functionality of the network element 112 and/or other elements of the infrastructure described herein may be implemented as pre-programmed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc.), or other related components. In other embodiments, certain portions of the network element 112 and/or other elements may be implemented as an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) having access to a code memory (not shown) which stores program instructions for the operation of the ALU. The program instructions could be stored on a medium which is fixed, tangible and readable directly by the network element 112 and/or other elements, (e.g., removable diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, fixed disk, USB drive), or the program instructions could be stored remotely but transmittable to the network element 112 and/or other elements via a modem or other interface device.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternative implementations and modifications possible for implementing the present invention, and that the above implementations and examples are only illustrations of one or more embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is only to be limited by the claims appended hereto. 

1-77. (canceled)
 78. A method comprising: receiving a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, said communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier, said request comprising a calling party identification portion; based on said communication client identifier, determining an auxiliary identifier associated with said communication client; augmenting said calling party identification portion of said request with said auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.
 79. The method defined in claim 78, said outgoing call destined for a destination communication client, the method further comprising: transmitting said augmented request to said destination communication client, said augmented request for causing said destination communication client to convey said auxiliary identifier.
 80. The method defined in claim 79, said communication client being coupled to a first communication network and said destination communication client being coupled to a second communication network; wherein said transmitting said augmented request comprises transmitting said augmented request to a gateway responsible for mediating communication between said first and second communication networks.
 81. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said receiving a request comprises receiving a SIP message from said communication client.
 82. The method defined in claim 81, wherein said network address comprises a SIP URI.
 83. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said communication client identifier comprises at least one of an IP address associated with said communication client; a MAC address associated with said communication client; a proprietary communication client identifier associated with said communication client; and an IP address associated with an access device connected to said communication client and a port identifier of said access device associated with said communication client.
 84. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said determining comprises: extracting a communication client identifier of said communication client from said request; accessing a database comprising at least one record mapping a specific communication client identifier with at least one corresponding auxiliary identifier; retrieving said at least one corresponding auxiliary identifier from said at least one record, if said specific communication client identifier corresponds to said communication client identifier of said communication client.
 85. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said augmenting comprises inserting said auxiliary identifier into said calling party identification portion of said request.
 86. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said augmenting comprises substituting at least a portion of said calling party identification portion with said auxiliary identifier.
 87. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said augmenting comprises substituting all of said calling party identification portion with said auxiliary identifier.
 88. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name; and wherein said augmenting comprises substituting at least a portion of at least one of said indication of said network address and said registered subscriber name with said auxiliary identifier.
 89. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name; and wherein said augmenting comprises inserting said auxiliary identifier into at least one of said indication of said network address and said registered subscriber name.
 90. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name, said indication of said network address and said indication of a registered subscriber name being maintained in a single field of said request.
 91. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name, said indication of said network address being maintained in a second field of said request.
 92. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises a registered subscriber name; and wherein said augmenting comprises substituting at least a portion of said registered subscriber name with said auxiliary identifier.
 93. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises a registered subscriber name; and wherein said augmenting comprises inserting said auxiliary identifier into said registered subscriber name.
 94. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address; and wherein said augmenting comprises substituting at least a portion of said indication of said network address with said auxiliary identifier.
 95. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address; and wherein said augmenting comprises inserting said auxiliary identifier into said indication of said network address.
 96. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address; and the method further comprising determining a registered subscriber name based on said network address.
 97. The method defined in claim 96, wherein said augmenting comprises substituting at least a portion of said registered subscriber name with said auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented registered subscriber name and inserting said augmented registered subscriber name into said calling party identification portion.
 98. The method defined in claim 96, wherein said augmenting comprises inserting said registered subscriber name and said auxiliary identifier into said calling party identification portion.
 99. The method defined in claim 96, wherein said augmenting comprises substituting at least a portion of said indication of said network address to generate an augmented indication of said network address and inserting said registered subscriber name into said calling party identification portion with the augmented indication of said network address.
 100. The method defined in claim 78, wherein said determining an auxiliary identifier associated with said communication client comprises determining a first auxiliary identifier and a second auxiliary identifier associated with said communication client, and wherein the method further comprises: soliciting from said communication client an indication of which one of said first and second auxiliary identifiers is to be used; receiving said indication; and wherein said augmenting comprises; augmenting said calling party identification portion of said request with one of said first and second auxiliary identifiers based on said indication of which one of said first and second auxiliary identifiers is to be used.
 101. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, said communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier, said request comprising a calling party identification portion; means for determining an auxiliary identifier associated with said communication client based on said communication client identifier; means for augmenting said calling party identification portion of said request for initiating an outgoing call with said auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.
 102. The apparatus defined in claim 101, further comprising: means for transmitting said augmented request to a destination communications client for which said request was destined for, said augmented request for causing said destination communication client to convey said auxiliary identifier
 103. The apparatus defined in claim 101, embodied in a soft switch.
 104. A system comprising: A network element operable: to receive a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, sad communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier, said request comprising a calling party identification portion; based on said communication client identifier, to determine an auxiliary identifier associated with said communication client; to augment said calling party identification portion of said request for initiating an outgoing call with said auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request.
 105. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said network element is further operable to transmit such augmented request to a destination communication client for which said request was destined for.
 106. The system defined in claim 105, further comprising said destination communication client; and wherein said destination communication client is operable, responsive to receiving said augmented request, to convey said auxiliary identifier.
 107. The system defined in claim 104, further comprising a first communication network associated with said communication client and a second communication network associated with said destination communication client, wherein said network element is further operable to: transmit said augmented request to a gateway responsible for mediating communications between said first and second communication networks.
 108. The system defined in claim 104, wherein to receive a request, the network element is operable to receive a SIP message from said communication client.
 109. The system defined in claim 108, father comprising said communication client, wherein said communication client is operable to generate said SIP message in response to a user: inputting a destination network identifier; inputting a destination network identifier and selecting a pre-defined soft key; inputting a destination network identifier and selecting a pre-defined button; making a selection from an address book; selecting a click-to-call button; selecting a link.
 110. The system defined in claim 108, wherein said network address comprises a SIP URI.
 111. The system defined in claim 104, further comprising said communication client, and wherein said communication client identifier comprises at least one of: an IP address associated with said communication client; a MAC address associated with said communication client; a proprietary communication client identifier associated with said communication client; and an IP address associated with an access drive connected to said communication client and a port identifier of said access device associated with said communication client.
 112. The system defined in claim 104, wherein to determine an auxiliary identifier, the network element is operable to: extract a communication client identifier of said communication client from said request; access a database comprising at least one record mapping a specific communication client identifier with at least one corresponding auxiliary identifier; retrieve said at least one corresponding auxiliary identifier from said at least one record, if said specific communication client identifier corresponds to said communication client identifier of said communication client.
 113. The system defined in claim 112, wherein said network element comprises said database.
 114. The system defined in claim 112, further comprising said database accessible to said network element.
 115. The system defined in claim 104, wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to insert said auxiliary identifier into said calling party identification portion of said request.
 116. The system defined in claim 104, wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute a portion of said calling party identification portion with said auxiliary identifier.
 117. The system defined in claim 104, wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute all of said calling party identification portion with said auxiliary identifier.
 118. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name, and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute at least a portion of at least one of said indication of said network address and said registered subscriber name with said auxiliary identifier.
 119. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name, and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to insert said auxiliary identifier into at least one said indication of said network address and said registered subscriber name.
 120. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name, said indication of said network address and said indication of a registered subscriber name being maintained in a single field of said request.
 121. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address and a registered subscriber name, said indication of said network address and said indication of a registered subscriber name being maintained in a single field of said request.
 122. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises a registered subscriber name; and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute at least a portion of said registered subscriber name with said auxiliary identifier.
 123. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises a registered subscriber name; and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to insert said auxiliary identifier into said registered subscriber name.
 124. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises a registered subscriber name; and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute at least a portion of said indication of said network address with said auxiliary identifier.
 125. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address; and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to insert said auxiliary identifier into said indication of said network address.
 126. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said calling party identification portion comprises an indication of said network address; and wherein the network element is further operable to determine a registered subscriber name based on said network address.
 127. The system defined in claim 126, wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute at least a portion of said registered subscriber name with said auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented registered subscriber name and to insert said augmented registered subscriber name into said calling party identification portion.
 128. The system defined in claim 126, wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to insert said registered subscriber name and said auxiliary identifier into said calling party identification portion.
 129. The system defined in claim 126, wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to substitute at least a portion of said indication of said network address to generate an augmented indication of said network address and to insert said registered subscriber name into said calling party identification portion with the augmented identification of said network address.
 130. The system defined in claim 104, wherein, if the network element determines that said communication client is associated with a first auxiliary identifier and a second auxiliary identifier, the network element is further operable to: solicit from said communication client an indication of which one of said first and second auxiliary identifiers is to be used; receive said indication; and wherein to augment said request, the network element is operable to: augment said calling party identification portion of said request with one of said first and second auxiliary identifiers based on said indication of which one of said first and second auxiliary identifiers is to be used.
 131. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said auxiliary identifier comprises at least one of: an alias associated with a user of said communication client; an indication of a location of said communication client; an alternative call back number; an alternative contact address; a greeting.
 132. The system defined in claim 104, wherein said network element comprises a soft switch.
 133. The system defined in claim 104, further comprising said communication client; and wherein said communication client comprises one of: a VoIP phone; a soft client executable on a computing apparatus; a POTS phone equipped with an ATA.
 134. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when executed by a computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus: to receive a request for initiating an outgoing call from a communication client, said communication client being registered in association with a network address and being associated with a communication client identifier, said request comprising a calling party identification portion; based on said communication client identifier, to determine an auxiliary identifier associated with said communication client; to augment said calling party identification portion of said request for initiating an outgoing call with said auxiliary identifier to generate an augmented request. 